USC 95
|Row 3 title = Participants |Row 3 info = 47 |Row 4 title = Debuting countries |Row 4 info = None |Row 5 title = Returning countries |Row 5 info = , , , |Row 6 title = Withdrawing countries |Row 6 info = , , , , , , , , , |Row 7 title = Winner |Row 7 info = Kerli "Feral hearts" |Row 8 title = Timeline |Row 8 info = ◄ Esch-sur-Alzette 94 Tallinn 96 ► }} Universong 95 was the ninety fifth edition of the Universong Contest, held between the 6th and the 28th January, 2017 in the city of Rome, Italy. This was the seventh time Italy hosted the Universong Contest (its last hosting was in USC 63, held in Florence), and the second time that its capital Rome hosted the musical event (the first time was in USC 24), and it was possible thanks to the winning of Lorenzo Fragola with the song "D'improvviso" on the previous edition in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. The participation, for the first edition of 2017, suffered a considerable decrease. From 54 participating countries in USC 94, the number slightly decreased to 47. For the seventh edition in a row, there were no debuting countries in the competition, but there were some returning countries like Ecuador and Latvia (both of whom last competed in USC 92 in Santiago de Chile), and Estonia (who last competed in USC 93 in Tehran). Also returning was Serbia under new management, after being disqualified on last edition. This edition also conmemorated the seventh anniversary of Universong. The grand final also supposed a big success for the Latin American countries, since six entries from that region were represented in the grand final. Apart from Big 3 member Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador went through the Grand Final, a record for this region. The result of this edition favoured, at the end of the voting, to the entry of Estonia. The song "Feral hearts" by Kerli, achieved the first winning for the Baltic country (the second for this European region after the winning of Lithuania in USC 52), as well as the best position for this country after 90 editions (passing the record third place got by Birgit Õigemeel in USC 05), which suppose a new record for a country to improve their best position in the competition. Kerli achieved a total of 161 points, winning both votes and earning 4 sets of 12 points. Meanwhile, the second place went to Italy. Marco Mengoni equalled his best personal mark from USC 79 at achieving the runner-up position for the second time. This time, as the host country, the song "Ti ho voluto bene veramente" achieved 148 points, 13 points less than Estonia, while being the entry that scored more sets of maximum points, with five sets. This is the second time in the last six editions that Italy gets the runner-up position (the first since band La Rua back in USC 90), as well as being the third time a host country gets the second place right after having won the previous edition (the first after Russia back in USC 74, and Ireland back in USC 84). The third place went to Brazil, being the best positioned of the six South American entries in the Grand Final. The song "Our way" by FTampa & Kamatos, made a positive impact on the audience and on the voters, who finally gave it 141 points and four sets of 12 points (the same that Estonia received). The remainder of the top 5 was conformed by Israel (represented by Oshri Elmorich, with the song "Nuclear love") and Big 3 member Australia (represented by the song "Hurt anymore" by Samantha Jade and Cyrus). On the other hand, Argentina achieved in this edition their best position ever, a sixth place, with 115 points, thanks to the song "Ego" by Lali Espósito". With the same amount of points than Argentina, former USC champion from Croatia, Nina Kraljić, achieved seventh place with the song "Samo", while Denmark, Slovenia and Greece completed the top 10. About the city Rome is a city and special comune (named Roma Capitale) in Italy. Rome is the capital of Italy and of the Lazio region. With 2.9 million residents in 1,285 km2 (496.1 sq mi), it is also the country's largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome has a population of 4.3 million residents. The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of Tiber river. The Vatican City is an independent country geographically located within the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states. Rome's history spans more than two and a half thousand years. While Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The city's early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and Sabines. Eventually, the city successively became the capital of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, and is regarded as one of the birthplaces of Western civilisation and by some as the first ever metropolis. It was first called urbs aeterna (The Eternal City) by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BCE, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the "Caput Mundi" (Capital of the World). After the fall of the Western Empire, which marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, Rome slowly fell under the political control of the Papacy, which had settled in the city since the 1st century AD, until in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. Beginning with the Renaissance, almost all the popes since Nicholas V (1422–55) pursued coherently along four hundred years an architectonic and urbanistic programme aimed to make of the city the world's artistic and cultural centre.9 Due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance,10 and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, creating masterpieces throughout the city. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city. Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the world's most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Semifinal 1 In this semifinal, the 22 semifinalists plus shall vote in this semifinal. will decide in which semifinal it'll vote. The rest of the countries can vote too, but their votes will be counted as Rest of the World. Semifinal 2 In this semifinal, the 22 semifinalists plus shall vote in this semifinal. will decide in which semifinal it'll vote. The rest of the countries can vote too, but their votes will be counted as Rest of the World. Grand Final Split results Finalists/Non-finalists Returning artists Special Awards Bartek Award Best Non-English Award hph01 Award Category:Universong Contest